Tongue-and-groove joint for flooring.



No. 883,049. PATENTED MAR. 24, 1908.

1. W. PIVER. TONGUE AND GROOVE JOINT FOR FLOORING.

APPLICATION FILED SBPT.12, 1907 SQ mummy.

' use to employ a tongue and groove matched UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' onN w. PIVER, or LAKEL'AND, FLORIDA.

TQNGU'E-AND-GROOVE JOINT FOR FIDORI NG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 24, 1908 Application filed September 12, 1907. Serial No. 892,690.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. PIVER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lakeland, in the county of Folk and State of Florida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tongue-and-Groove Joints for Flooring; and I do hereby declare the fol-.

' is to produce such a joint, the parts of which shall be simple and easy to form as the lumber passes through the machine; another object of my invention is to roduce such a joint which shall be easy an sim le for the carpenters to 'ut together when t e flooringv or ceiling is being put in place. But the main object of my invention is to reduce a joint having the characteristics a ove described which shall, under all conditions, produce a smooth surface of the floor, ceiling or other covering, to which my invention may be applied.'

As is well known, the tongue and groove joints now in common use are .of standard dimensions for matched lumber and that in all cases the groove is-one thirt -second of an.

he reason for thisist tract with different atmospheric conditions,

and long experience has taught that some allowance must be made for such contraction and ex ansion, and that the standard allowance 0 at least one thirty-second 'of-an inch is essential. The result is, in the present state of the art, that it is impracticable in actual joint that is absolutel close fitting for fioorings, ceilings, -etc. hat is tosa if the tongue "and groove should be ma e of the same size so as to form a 'SIIIOOth'Sl1If&C6 when the flooring or ceiling is laid down, the lumber would expand and the tongue would be too large for the cove. Again, if we make the standard al owance of one thirtysecond of an inch, as above stated, we will encounter a mismatch or uneven surface to l f the extent of that allowance when the'flooring or ceiling is in place, still as stated above experlence has shown that this allowance or clearance of one thirty-second of an inch is essential and it is universally found in the commercial lumber of this character of to-da A mismatch or an uneven surface is so 0 jectionable, that in the present state of the art, in order to partially prevent the same this clearance of one thirty-second-of an inch Y is provided in the groove, and the distance between the tongue and the bottom, or underside of the flooring, when it is laid down, is made the same in dimensions as the underside of the groove. In this form of joint the flooring is laid by nailing diagonally throu h the tongue, and when the underside of t e groove fits beneath the said tongue, the groove being. one thirty-second of an inch arger than the tongue, extends above the same, and thereby prevents a perfect match from being made. Furthermore, when this style of joint is adofpted it requires greater skill. on the part 0 the carpenters to lay said flooring than it does with m tongue and roove joint. this atter method of making a smooth surface with the boards or planking, but they merely answer as a device to As a matter'o fact, in,

joints, the tongue and groove does not assist in making hide the nail'driven through the tongue, and

to thereb enable the carpenter to secretly nail the oorin strips to the floor sill or subfloor. It is o y the fact that. the up or lip of the groove overlaps the upper su ace of the tongue that enables the workman to make an. approximate matched or smooth surface in such fioorings or ceilings.

The main object of my invention, as above stated, being to overcome the above objections, 'my invention consists in the novel combination of parts more-fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of-this specification, Figure 1 represents a floor, ceiling or other covering, provided with the joint constituting my in vention. Fi 2 re resents a section of a. board provi ed wit a tongue and groove made in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 3 represents the details of my joint on a greatly enlarged scale.

Like letters refer to like parts the views.

A represents a suitable board of anydesired dimensions, that shown being the standard board of seven-eighths of an inch in thickness. On one edge of this board I form as it this tongue has two perpendicular surfaces E extending from the outer surfaces of the board inward a distance of three-sixteenths of an'inch, and also with two inclined surfaces F on each side of said tongue joining the 5 inner extremities of said surfaces E, with the inner extremities of the said surfaces D, all as best shown in Fig. 3. The perpendicular distances from the 1nner extremities of said surfaces E to the said surfaces D are oneeighth of an inch.- That edge of the board -which is provided with the groove has two inclined surfaces G extending from the outer surface of said board inward a distance of three-sixteenths of an inch, and also with the oppositely inclined surfaces H co-extensive with the surfaces F above mentioned, terminating in'the angular tongues J. Between these tongues, the board is provided with the groove K proper, the same size as the tongue proper, B; that is to say, of one-fourth of an inch in thickness. The outer extremities'of the surfaces G and E meet at a sharp" angle as shown, and the said surfaces diverge 1nward leaving the spaces L. The surfaces H and F likewise diverge as shown, leaving the spaces M. f

It results directly from the construction just described, that'since there is no clearanceor enlargement of the groove K proper, over the tongue B, that when the tongue and groove come together there must be a perfect match. That 1s to say, the cause for mismatching in' all the standard lumber now in use is completely done away with, and the upper surface .of the tongue edge of the board must of necessity be on exact level with the upper surfaces of the groove edge of the board, and therefore a ceiling or floor provided with such a joint must be smooth, provided the edges of the two boards come toether. As above stated, however, the lum- Ber swells and the ton ue becomes larger than the groove; and in t e standard lumber, if the tongue and groove are of the same size,

the one could not fit Within the other. In my construction, by providing the sharp tongues J on the extremities of the groove,

' and flat surfaces D on the body of the ton ue, as well as the semi-cylindrical surfaces on 0 the latter, I am enabled to force the ton ue,

within, the groove with great ease, notwithstandin the fact, that the tongue ma be larger t an the groove because the s arptongue will expand easily and equally on each side constituting an expansion self cen 9th, 1899, I disclosed; a joint somewhat simiterin joint. That is to say, any workman,- whet er skilled in his trade or not, can easily bring the semi-cylindrical surfaces C up to the aperture between the sharp tongues J and force the said surface (3 within the groove K proper, very much as a conical'peg is forced into a hole. When this is done, the parts bein of the dimensions above stated are compelled to fit closely together, and to form a perfectly smooth floor surface and of an exceedingly neat appearance. The surfaces E and F being 0 positely inclined, and the surfaces G and H being likewise oppositely inclined, but at a different angle, and thereby leaving the spaces L and M between 30 saidpairs of surfaces, it results that if any drivin up or tightening of the joint is necessary a ter the nails have been driven through the ton ue B, the same may be readily accomplis ed, for all that is necessary to do in 35 order to drive the roove further upon the tongue B is to mereIy apply force and thereby reduce the s aces L and M, and cause the sharp tongues if to approach more nearly to the base of the tongue-B.

In a floor such as that just described, it will be seen, that I do not need any filling of lead or other material as is ordinarily applied to floors to fill up the small cracks that are inevitably left between the boards, but 5 of course, if desired, such a filling can be a lied in order to more firmly cement t e oints together. i

In my former Patent #624,862, dated May lar to the above, but the same did not ossess the above features of this joint as wi be apparent by a com arison of the drawings of said patent with t e drawings of this application. jects of my invention are accom lished by this simple structure, in that all 0 the parts are easily and sim 1y made, while the lumber is passing througff' themill and that a perfectly'smooth surface may be obtained by an unskilled workman, in any floor or ceiling to which my joint may be applied.

What I claim'1s:

1. A board havin on one edge thereof a tongue provided with a semi-cylindrical 5 outer edge C and-fiat parallel sides D, D, said board also provided with the fiat sur faces E, E, extendin substantially perpendicular to the outer aces of the board, and with the inclinedsurfaces F joining said sur- 20 faces E and D, substantially as described.

I 2. A board having a tongue on one ed e, and a groove K on the other of a width t 0 same as the thickness of the said tongue, said latter edge alsoprovided with the in- 25 clined surfaces G, G, extending inward from the outer faces of said board and with the surfaces H extendin at an obtuse an 10 to the said surfacesG, and joining the atter with the outer edges of the groove K, there- It will be further seen that the ob 105 tongues J, substanthe, same as the thickness of the said' tongue,

said latter edge also provided with the inclined surfaces G, G, extending inward from the outer faces of said board, and with the surfaces H extendin at an obtuse an le to the said surfaces G, and joining the latter with the outer edges of the groove K, thereby forming the sharp tongues J, substantially as described.

4. A matched floor having a smooth surclined surfaces G, G, extending inward from the outer faces of said board, and withthe surfaces H extendin at an obtuse an le to the said surfaces G, 5, and joining the atter with the outer edges of the groove K, thereby forming the sharp tongues J and the spaces L and M on each side of said tongue, substantially as described. 7

5. A joint for matched floors composed of boards havin a groove K provided with parallel straight. walls, a curved bottom, and sharp tongues J at the outer extremities of said groove, and said boardsalso provided with a tongue B of a thickness equal to the width of said roove, said tongue havin parallel fiat wal? groove, and also havin a semi-cylindrical said tongue B in between the said ton es J, is facilitated, and said boardsalso aving means enabling their extreme outer corners or edges to come into touching contact, substantially as described.

6. A joint for matched floors com osed of two boards one of which is provide witha groove having sharp tongues .J, and the other with a tongue of the same dimensions as said groove provided with a semi-cylindrical edge C an the fiat surfaces D, D, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature,

s matching the walls 0 said 4 

